Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A woman accused of posing as a board-certified therapist at a local recovery center has entered a plea.

38-year-old Kimberly Coden of Berkley was in 44th Circuit Court in Livingston County before Judge Suzanne Geddis for a final settlement conference this week and pleaded guilty to multiple felonies related to impersonating a healthcare professional and witness intimidation.

Coden pleaded guilty to six felony counts of unauthorized practice of a health profession, two felony counts of identity theft, and one felony count of intimidating or interfering with a witness. She was originally charged with 18 counts in two separate cases, including some related to her alleged communications with a witness in the original case.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says Coden was employed as a director of services at Oxford Recovery Center, a facility with locations in Brighton and Troy, which provides services to children diagnosed with Autism. She presented herself as a Board-Certified Behavioral Analyst (BCBA) when she was not licensed by the State of Michigan and did not possess the requisite educational background.

Coden also utilized the certification of a board-certified BCBA with the Behavior Analyst Certification Board to obtain employment at Centria Health Care for several months in 2016 and the Positive Behavior Supports Corporation from 2017 to 2018, in addition to the Oxford Recovery Center, where she was employed from 2018 to 2021. The Department says Coden also intimidated a witness to this matter via text messages in an effort to prevent the witness from testifying against her.

Nessel commented “The treatment of children in need of intensive intervention or services must remain in the hands of certified and licensed professionals. My office will remain vigilant to protect children from unlicensed practitioners who can cause tremendous harm to children due to their lack of specialized training.”

Coden remains lodged in the Livingston County Jail while awaiting sentencing. Court records show as part of the plea deal, Coden is not to have contact with any of the victims. Sentencing is set for December 3rd.